Press release Dutch Campaign Against Arms Trade and Indonesia House. Amsterdam 1 June 2005
– Indonesian and Dutch people will form a living banner Thursday 2 June to protest arms exports to Indonesia. Also 3,000 signatures against the deliveries of naval vessels will be offered to Dutch secretary of state for economic affairs, Karien van Gennip.
Late 2003 it became known that the Netherlands wanted to export two corvettes to Indonesia. Two weeks ago defence minister Henk Kamp announced that shipyard De Schelde in Flushing will build another two warships for Indonesia. The value of these orders will amount to between 700 and 800 million euros. Besides Thales Nederland is currently modernising another Indonesian warship.
In 2003 similar naval vessels were used for coastal bombing during the conflict in Aceh. Today, Indonesia is still ravaged by internal conflicts. Arms exports to Indonesia are square to the criteria of the European Union Code of Conduct on arms exports and therefore have to be stopped. Moreover it is shocking that that Indonesia, so soon after the devastating tsunami spends many hundreds of millions of euros for the procurement of warships.
Date and place: Thursday 2 June, 13.45 hrs, Entrance Tweede Kamer (Dutch parliament), Plein, The Hague
More information:
Martin Broek: +31 (0)6 291 46 084
Erwanto: +31 (0)6 466 02 799
